Overhead console
So in order to fit the headliner, I will need to know how the overhead console will sit. I will also need to know how it will sit against the sound deadener/dynamat. So that became the next task. So I took the console and did a test fit. As I was working solo today, I used a few 2x4s to hold it up while I measured.
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So in went the dynamat….
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And then a test fit.
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Then to make sure I could trim the rear on final resting position, I installed the overhead gauge pod to set the space needed.
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Buuuuut, the back didn’t fit:
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So it needed a haircut:
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And the cover:
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And then came the moment of truth: the full test fit.
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Now I started to cut holes for the console to mount:
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And then the test fit without and 2×4 assistance:
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These openings are for the screws that hold the console up, and for the overhead console.
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Now, with all of the in and out, in and out of the console to test fit, I made a mistake. While not fully paying attention, I didn’t really notice that as I trimmed the console edges, the console was starting to contour more and more to the roof line and its final resting place. What I didn’t calculate was that as the console sits higher, the gap between the console and roof becomes less and less. That’s a good thing. But that means the screws don’t need to be as long to hold it up. You know those screws. That temporarily go into the INNER roof to hold it up? Well, they got a bit friendly with the outer sheetmetal. And yes, I had a few choice words to say. Add in some major disappointment and anger and frustration, and well, I have a new shape to the outer roof of my truck that will have to be tended to before the truck sees water. Thankfully it is on the roof, but even still, not really what I wanted to see at this stage of the resto. This oopsy did result in a few day separation between the truck and I. 😉
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After a few days of cooling off, it was time to get back at it. So I continued with the headliner.
First was to create now the shape in the front headliner for the gauge cluster.
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And to finish the console off, I added the rear seat heater switches.
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Final paint disassembly then took place:
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Last stop for the headliner was the 3M spray, and material:
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Now if you look closely, you can see the headliner seams. I am not pleased with this and I didn’t come all this way to see that shit there. So you will have to see what I ended up doing to remedy this little issue. I am not Ok with this look. 😉
4WD Shifters
Next up was getting the shifters done for the NP205. I will be running 2WD low, so I will require two shifters so as to enable both shift rails on their own. One shifter will engage the 4wd, the other will be 2 hi and 2 low. As I also will not be modifying the factory shift hole in the floor, I will need to get a bit creative how I do this.
I will make my own shifters as the factory shifters have two parts: the upper, and lower. The place where they bolt together, is just above the floor line. While not an issue when only one shifter is going through the floor, it is a huge issue when you need two shifters going through there. As two shifters are snug to begin with, never mind two sets of nuts/bolt heads sticking out, I will make them longer so as the angle of fabrication allows them to be bolted higher up where there is more space. I used two factory shifters on the 90 and while it works, I can snag the other shifter in certain conditions.
So I started with the drawing of what I wanted on a 3/8” steel plate.
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Next I began the tedious task of cutting it.
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That gave me shifter 1:
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Repeat procedure and you have shifter 2:
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Now this is the factory bracket that allows the fulcrum of the shifter to pull the rod that goes into the NP205. This will have to be modified as first off, it doesn’t bolt to a NV5600. Secondly, well it doesn’t meet the twin stick needs. 😀 You can see the chop off line drawn in gold. This is the only part of the factory setup that will be used.
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And with my buddy Andy feeling itchy to weld something, he took on bracket fabrication. So we took the bracket template I made up a few years ago, chopped it too, did some welding, and this is what we got:
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Now to clean it up to be nice and parallel, I threw it into the mill to make all perfectly align:
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While playing in the mill, I also cut the center pivot holes for the shifters:
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Next up was to cut some bushings for the pivot point on the shifter. The specialty nylon will act as a bearing as well as an isolator against vibration and noise.
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That resulted in this pile-o-parts:
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And sticking it all together, it looked like this:
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And in the truck, it looks like this:
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Shifter brackets part 2
With the brackets done, we can now make the shift rods. For this, I used the original factory rod as the factory bend and pin hole were a great start. I then will need to extend the rods, build ends for them, and then weld them all together. They will also need to be formed so as to both fit where one once did, bend around the tranny tailstock, avoid contact with the driveshaft, and be solid enough to shift independently.
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So I took the rod, chopped it, thus giving me a left and right as both factory ends are bent. These will serve as the front half of both rods. I then took a sheet of steel and cut out the end that would slide right into the fork on the shift rail. These will end up being welded to the rods once they are extended.
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Next was to cut the missing length of rod from some donor material….
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And then some welding and you get the back half of the rod:
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That gives a front and a back that just needs correct length measured:
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With these new shifters, I made the bottom lobes much longer than the factory ones as I want a shorter shift throw. So these got holes mounted on the bottom end to give me a short throw shifter:
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Now hanging it in the truck, I can see what I am dealing with. You can see I have also started on the nigh/low rod as well.
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For the high low rod, I have several different connection points so that I don’t have to re drill after painting. This allows me to change the shift rod position thus changing the show angle and distance for best drivers feel.
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A little more forming for the hi/low rod to get around the hump and give me the perfect angle…
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And that gives me two rods, both working.
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This is what the final assembly looked like before paint:
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And for the sake of keeping things together even though this wasn’t exactly the order, this is the after paint look:
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